The mother of Lamara Bell has said that her daughter finally has "justice" following the conviction of Police Scotland over the failures which lead to her death.
Diane Bell said the admission by the force its actions had “materially contributed” to fatal health and safety breaches had brought the family "huge relief".
Mother-of-two Lamara Bell, 28, and her partner John Yuill, 25, died after their car crashed off the M9 near Stirling in July 2015.
Despite a call being made to police, it took officers three days to respond after they were contacted by a second member of the public who came across the crash site.
READ MORE: Police Scotand admit failings which led to young mum's death
Mr Yuill was pronounced dead at the scene, but MS Bell clung to life for four days in hospital before passing.
Officers search the crash site
In a statement released after the conviction, Diane Bell said: “The absence of answers and recognition has been the biggest strain because it is the not knowing that makes everything worse.
“It has taken a long time for this conviction to be secured but it is a huge relief that Police Scotland has finally admitted being at fault for Lamara’s death.
“I’d like to thank everyone who has supported us since 2015. Our family and friends… the local community… our legal team… and also the media whose spotlight helped make sure the failures that led to Lamara’s death could not be swept under the rug."
Mrs Bell added: “That being said, we are a private family and now have a lot to consider and come to terms with - and as such, to assist with our healing process, we require time and space so we now respectfully request that our privacy is respected.
“But the important thing now that today we have the conviction. Finally, we can say – Lamara has justice.”
At the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday, the office of the Chief Constable of Police Scotland admitted that it failed to ensure that people including Mr Yuill and Ms Bell were not exposed to risks to their health and safety by failing to provide an “adequate and reliable call-handling system” between April 1 2013 and March 1 2016.
READ MORE: Police Scotland faces legal action over M9 deaths
It also failed to ensure the system was “not vulnerable to unacceptable risks arising from human error” and to ensure that all relevant information reported by members of the public was recorded on a Police Scotland IT system so that it could be considered and a police response provided where appropriate.
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